The life changing effect of decluttering

A funny thing happened as I emptied my house of all the objects that were extraneous to my life and kept only those things that added value to my life.

The house remained tidier.

Items went back into their own spaces.

Junk stopped accumulating.

Things stopped getting lost – I haven’t lost my keys since I started this decluttering process. Not once (every time I think about that I feel like I need to pause just to really appreciate how incredible that is).

Why?

There’s less stuff to start with. Everything has its own spot now so when it goes away it goes where it belongs, not just where a random spot can be found for it. Because it’s so much easier to put things away, I am much more inclined to take those few extra steps and put things away. I am more inclined to ask my son to put his toys away before bed and make sure that he follows through. The various surfaces throughout the house don’t attract miscellaneous clutter like they used to because everything has a place to go.

I have learnt that stuff attracts stuff. Clutter attracts clutter. If I leave a little dish out on the bookcase for keys and wallet to go into, then somehow it will also attracts, bits of paper, screws, pegs and a lot of other random things.

I may not have finished, but already I can see the results.

I feel better.

I am more relaxed.

I am happier.

I am less overwhelmed.

I am no longer trying to escape the messy house and I am no longer constantly tidying a messy house. 

Cutting out the excess stuff in my home has significantly improved my state of mind and sense of wellbeing. It is worth taking a moment to really think about how much impact our environment can have on our mind and our body.

More time to spend with these two
With less stuff and a tidier home, I have more time to spend with my family. I can say yes to that puzzle or that game of Baby Chewbaccas (my son’s current favourite make believe game) because there isn’t 13 entire loads of washing to be folded or a floor that needs to be cleared of flotsam and jetsam before we can play.

With this first step, my life began to change. I started to think what other distractions were preventing me from spending time with my family. Not just time, quality time. With the increased time with my family, I really began to notice how much of that time I was actually spending on my phone and not paying attention to those that are important to me. I started thinking about what lessons I was teaching my children, what lessons I wanted to teach my children.

A tidy house was my first step. That first step lead me down a path I never expected, a path to figuring out how to really engage with my husband and my children and really, with life. All it took was that first step. Everyone can take a first step. Who knows where it will lead. 

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